Nine early-career researchers from Australia will be heading to Lindau, Germany this year to attend the prestigious Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting.

The annual event is expected to bring together 40 Nobel laureates and 635 young scientists from more than 90 nations.

The 72^nd Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting is dedicated to Medicine and Physiology and will be held from 25 to 30 June 2023.

Participation in the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings is proudly supported by the Science and Industry Endowment Fund (SIEF) and administered by the Australian Academy of Science (AAS).

The Lindau SIEF–AAS Fellows will receive a grant to enable their attendance at the event and to take part in the SIEF Research Innovation Tour in Berlin. Led by Academy Fellow Professor Jennie Brand-Miller, the tour will showcase some of Germany’s finest research and development facilities related to medicine and physiology.

The PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers selected to attend this meeting in 2023 are:

• Dr Siobhon Egan of Murdoch University, who studies systems biology with an emphasis on microbiome and infectious disease
• Dr Lynn Nazareth of CSIRO, whose research focuses on generating ex-vivo (in a dish) models of the olfactory system to study viral infections from the nose to the brain
• Dr William Reay of the University of Newcastle, who is investigating clinically actionable components of genomic risk for complex disorders
• Dr Enakshi Sinniah of the University of Queensland, who researches stem cells and cardiovascular development 
• Miss Cottrell Tamessar of the University of Newcastle, who researches reproduction, nanoparticles, andrology, gynecology and infertility
• Ms Rachel Visontay of the University of Sydney, who studies alcohol-health epidemiology.

Three of the SIEF–AAS Fellows from the field of medicine and physiology, who attended the 70th meeting virtually, have also been invited to participate in-person and will travel with the cohort selected this year to Lindau.

They are:

• Dr Ifrah Abdullahi of La Trobe University, who is investigating the health and developmental outcomes of children of immigrant backgrounds
• Dr David Klyne of the University of Queensland, who is researching why chronic pain develops, and how to prevent it
• Dr Kate Secombe of the University of Adelaide, who is working to understand the role of the gut microbiota in the development of disease, and potential therapeutic applications of altering the microbiota.

The Australian Academy of Science’s Gender Equity in STEM program is a suite of initiatives, underpinned and informed by the Women in STEM Decadal Plan, aimed at increasing female participation in STEM and aligning and supporting gender equity activities across organisations.

STEM Women Global is an online discovery platform that showcases the breadth and diversity of women working and engaging in STEM.

It enables a diverse range of women from across the globe to be discovered and contacted with opportunities to advance their careers and personal capabilities. It also allows for individuals to contact other women in their field, to collaborate, explore mentorship opportunities and network.

For International Women's Day, the Academy spoke with two inspirational women from the STEM Women Global network, asking them to share their experiences and examine the impact that initiatives such as STEM Women Global are likely to have on the STEM landscape.

When did you first know you wanted to pursue a career in science?

Professor Helena Nader, President of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences

My first year at university. I always liked to study, and to work in the lab during my senior and junior years of middle school. But in my first year at university, I realised science and research could be what I wanted to do.

Katrina Wruck, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at QUT

I don't think I ever really knew in the sense of ‘normal knowing’; I just was interested in solving problems. I was drawn to chemistry because we had a really good chemistry teacher.

I really enjoyed applying the problem-solving skills to solve chemical equations. It all just seemed to make sense to me, so it became apparent that I should choose that as my university course. I never really gave it much thought; I just knew that I needed something that was going to be challenging.

Are you aware of areas where gender influences outcomes in your research environment?

Professor Helena Nader

I would say that gender is always an influence, and it can be of higher impact or a lower impact. For instance, when people are deciding if they're going to [hire] a professor in physics, they tend to believe that men will do it better.

The same is true for engineering and the so-called ‘hard sciences’, and I think this is still going on today. We were able to change in some aspects—health science, for instance. In medicine, there were some specialities that were thought to be dedicated to men. But nowadays, women have proven they can be as good or even sometimes better than men in some of the specialties.

Katrina Wruck

I think women, in a broad sense, have always had issues in this sector because of pay imbalance and [it] being a male-dominated workforce.

But for Indigenous people in Australia, science is used as a weapon to justify discrimination, so it doesn't have a great ‘bedside manner’.

Everyone accepts Darwinism—that's a well-known thing—but what is more interesting is this concept called social Darwinism. Social Darwinism gives a hierarchy to different races, and essentially, Indigenous Australians have ranked as ‘less human’ than the colonisers. That's how they could justify the segregation.

So, when you talk about why people aren't going into science, it's because there's so much history there. Where if you would tell your auntie, for example, they might not be supportive of that career choice because of the history, so it's a challenging one. At QUT, [I’m] the only Indigenous academic in the Faculty of Science. And I've just finished my PhD. There's just not a lot of other people here to provide solidarity.

But things are changing very rapidly this generation. Like I said, I'm the first person in my family to go to university, and now I'm a doctor.

What impact do you see the STEM Women Global platform having in the current landscape?

The platform is a very good initiative. It's good to have a platform where you can find data on women’s work in different areas of science. Even though it’s only dedicated to STEM, it would be nice to have in all scientific areas.

It would be of use for directors and editors of journals when they’re trying to find good names for reviewing papers or reviewing grants. It could summarise some achievements of women researchers in the STEM area.

That's why I believe that would be important to have in other areas. I would recommend including other areas because nowadays, we’re not only talking of STEM, we’re also talking about transdisciplinary research, and humanities need to be present.

I really like the fact we have these databases; I think they're amazing. I did a search the other day to see if there was anyone else in my area, and there was no one I knew.

I know there are other people; it just hasn't been adopted more widely. I'd love to connect with people I haven't met yet, who I don't know about, to see if we can collaborate. [These databases are] a powerful tool to connect people and moving forward, I think it's going to be needed in our society.

I hope people can use it, to not only connect with others, but also ask them to be featured in the media, to help write books, and things like that.

What advice would you give to young people who are considering a career in science?

If you think of going for a career in science, you're going to be a very happy person. If you like science, you're going to experience new challenges every day. You're going to experience how to solve problems.

Sometimes you're going to find the direction you were moving was not the proper one, that you need to change. And that's the beauty of science: you don't have the final answer. You will have a hypothesis that you try to prove or disprove, and if the hypothesis is proven wrong, you need to start over.

So by doing science, you're not going to be doing a routine, and you're going to be your own boss. Because the experiment you're performing is the one you plan, it is the one you decided would be important. It's a career. It's a profession that's unique.

If I had to do it all over again, I would. I really appreciate the life that I’ve had.

Find your allies, and use—and expand—your network.

NBN Co is committed to increasing female representation in the workforce under an initiative to raise female participation in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) roles.

The company has joined the Australian Academy of Science’s Women in STEM Decadal Plan Champions – the first Government Business Enterprise to champion the initiative.

The commitment aligns with nbn’s target of achieving 40 per cent female representation in management positions. A report into STEM gender equity in Australia found women filled just 23 per cent of senior management and eight per cent of CEOs in STEM industries.

Academy Chief Executive Anna-Maria Arabia welcomed nbn as a Decadal Plan Champion.

“nbn’s achievements towards gender equity show it’s committed to positive and sustainable change for women in STEM,” Ms Arabia said.

“We are excited to see one of Australia’s major corporations take the next step in its journey to achieve gender equity and greater diversity in the workforce.” 

NBN Co Chief People and Culture Officer Sally Kincaid said nbn has lifted the percentage of women in management roles, with more than 34 per cent in December 2022.

“But we need to do more – and we’re working hard to reach our goal of 40 per cent,” Ms Kincaid said.

“As a major telco employer we have a responsibility to demonstrate the personal, professional and industry-wide benefits of recruiting and retaining top female talent.

“Joining the Women in STEM Decadal Plan formalises our commitment – ultimately, we accept we will be judged by our actions, not what we say.

“An inclusive culture drives innovation and enables the business to fulfil its purpose of lifting the digital capability of Australia.”

Read nbn’s Champion Response to the Women in STEM Decadal Plan.

The Women in STEM plan encourages organisations to work towards gender equity through leadership and cohesion, evaluation, workplace culture, visibility, education and industry action.

The Australian Academy of Science’s unique collection of manuscripts describes a strange chapter in scientific history, one that has to do with rabbits, livestock disease and a $10 million reward. To improve  access to the collection, the Academy recently published a digital version of the fascinating scrapbooks belonging to a young Adrien Loir, nephew and protégé of famed microbiologist Louis Pasteur.

The rabbit plague

The spread of rabbits in mainland Australia began in 1859, when 24 wild-caught rabbits from England were released on the Winchelsea estate of Thomas Austin for a touch of home and a ‘spot of hunting.’ They multiplied at an astonishing speed and by 1880 had become a plague of almost one billion. The rabbits overran vast areas of the countryside, and the Australian pastoral industry was facing collapse.

By 1887 it was clear the rabbits would resist all attempts to control their numbers. The increasingly desperate New South Wales government of Sir Henry Parkes appointed an Intercolonial Rabbit Commission to find a biological solution to the problem. The commission sent out a global call for ideas and offered a massive reward – £25,000 or $10 million in today’s terms – for ‘any method or process not previously known in the colony for the effectual extermination of rabbits.’

The prize drew the attention of Dr Louis Pasteur, the renowned French scientist whose work showed that microorganisms cause disease at a time when the validity of germ theory was still being questioned. Pasteur pioneered the first vaccines for chicken cholera, anthrax, and the much-feared rabies. At the time of the Australasian Rabbit Competition, however, he was recovering from his second stroke and struggling for funds to open his Institut Pasteur in Paris.

Pasteur saw the prize as an opportunity. His past experiments had demonstrated that chicken cholera (now called fowl cholera) was fatal to rabbits and worked to control their numbers when trialled northeast of Paris. Pasteur was convinced he had the solution and dispatched his nephew Adrien Loir and two colleagues, Dr François Germont and Dr Frank Hinds, to Australia to prove it and claim the reward.

Adrien Loir in Australia

The Pasteur team – headed by Adrien Loir – arrived in Australia in 1888, expecting to prove their remedy and return home with the prize money. They encountered resistance almost immediately. No one was enthusiastic about importing a new disease into the country and many on the Rabbit Commission had agendas of their own. One delegate had secret orders from the Premier of Queensland to divert Pasteur’s focus from rabbits to cattle diseases, two others imported rabbit-proof fencing wire, one was the president of a poultry farmers association justifiably fearful of chicken cholera, and another two were former students of Pasteur’s great rival, German scientist Dr Robert Koch.

Loir was almost refused entry into New South Wales, but the Commission eventually relented and constructed a laboratory on tiny Rodd Island, at the edge of Sydney Harbour, for the team to conduct their experiments and prove their rabbit eradication method.

Months after the Pasteur team landed in Australia, they performed their six weeks of pre-planned experiments, and the Rabbit Commission began deliberating a decision. The terms of the competition insisted on a year’s worth of trials, and Loir remained in Australia to wait. He turned his attention to the mysterious Cumberland disease that was devastating Australia’s sheep and cattle industry.

Fatal to all birds

The Rabbit Commission eventually determined that while chicken cholera killed rabbits, it was not sufficiently transmissible to make a dent in their numbers. Equally troubling was that the disease appeared fatal to all birds. An annoyed Louis Pasteur would have noted that according to the very vague terms of the competition, he should still qualify for the reward. The NSW government had stated that a remedy to the rabbit problem could not be ‘noxious to horses, sheep, camels, goats, swine, or dogs’ but had neglected any mention of birds.

This argument did not sway the Australians. Nobody won the £25,000 prize, but by 1889 it hardly mattered. Adrien Loir’s diversion into livestock diseases paid off. He and François Germont determined that Cumberland disease was, in fact, anthrax. As Pasteur already had a working anthrax vaccine, they persuaded the Parkes government to support a public vaccine trial that was so successful it seemed miraculous to those gathered to observe. Loir also worked with a grateful Queensland government to develop vaccines for the bovine pleuropneumonia and blackleg diseases plaguing the cattle industry in the colony.

Loir made considerable profits manufacturing vaccines on Rodd Island over the next four years, more than the original prize for the rabbit competition. Pasteur combined these funds with donations raised by a French newspaper campaign and proceeded with his Paris Institute.

Political controversies

Adrien Loir was a collector. While in Australia he kept two massive scrapbooks containing pressed flowers and steamship tickets alongside obscure media coverage, cartoons, letters and journal articles in French and English. He travelled between cities and rural areas, took photographs, and hinted at ongoing political controversies, including an accusation that the NSW government was interfering with his mail – which, to be fair to Loir, was true. There are press clippings touching on his relationship with visiting French actress Sarah Bernhardt and famously turbulent personal life. These small details stand out among the vast collection of memorabilia about rabbits, livestock, and his eventual transition from Australia back to France followed by his next post in Tunisia. The scrapbooks cover the period 1888 to 1894.

The Adrien Loir scrapbooks are now freely accessible via the Academy online catalogue.

Australia had to wait another 60 years for an effective response to the rabbit problem. The myxoma virus was released in 1950 after years of pioneering research by Professor Frank Fenner, a foundation Fellow of the Academy, and his colleagues. The population dropped by half a billion in the first two years, and while rabbits remain a problem, they have never recovered their plague era numbers.

The Academy would like to thank philanthropist David Anstice whose support made digitisation of the Adrien Loir collection possible.

The research and experience of Australian scientists forms the foundation on which we build our future. It is vital that we capture and preserve their stories. Donations from organisations and individuals are welcome; if you would like more information about supporting the archive project, please contact our Philanthropy Manager at philanthropy@science.org.au

Future Earth Australia is a national initiative based at the Australian Academy of Science that enables Australian researchers, governments, industry, peak bodies and civil society to connect and collaborate on sustainability transitions. This national hub in the international Future Earth network, connects the expertise capable of forming solutions for the sustainability challenges facing Australia, our regional neighbours and the globe.

Coming together to support Future Earth Australia and catalyse progress on sustainability is Grander’s Trust which has donated $50,000 towards the initiative. This donation will support capabilities, ensuring the best science and research underpins policy and leadership in sustainability in Australia.

Grander’s Trust is a legacy trust, acknowledging Mr Richard Stevens who became lovingly known as ‘Grander’ by his grandchildren.

“Dad was a quiet, modest man who enjoyed creating things. He was very generous with his resources to the benefit of everyone around him, but above all he wanted to build a strong foundation for his family. Grander’s Trust believes that a strong foundation also requires a healthy environment and equitable society and is continuing his generosity in that spirit,” explains his daughter.

In 2023, Future Earth Australia will utilise this funding to build on its track record of advancing Australia’s sustainability agenda. Some of the 2023 priorities include advising on oceans policy, creating a space for early and mid-career researchers to connect, building and sharing skills and applying knowledge in local sustainability projects, and continuing engagement with partners both nationally and internationally to raise the profile of Future Earth Australia and associated networks.

The Academy thanks Grander’s Trust for this incredible support and investing in a regenerative future for Earth.

Find out more about how donations support the Academy.

A researcher seeking to improve care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples with dementia is the recipient of top-up funding offered by the Australian Academy of Science.

The Douglas and Lola Douglas Scholarship in Medical Science is made possible through a generous bequest by philanthropist Lola Douglas and provides additional funds to PhD candidates awarded a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Postgraduate Scholarship in Indigenous or primary health care.

The rates of dementia for Indigenous Australians in remote and rural communities are among the highest in the world, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

Some important dementia risk factors present at higher levels among Indigenous Australians, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, childhood stress and trauma, and lower socioeconomic status.

Scholarship recipient for 2023 Dr Antonia Clarke will use data from the recent Australia-wide Census and hospital admissions in her project, but said it’s crucial to review the findings through a First Nations lens.

“The Douglas and Lola Douglas Scholarship will positively augment my NHMRC scholarship by directly facilitating community consultation,” said Dr Clarke, a Neurology Fellow and PhD candidate at Monash University.

“The scholarship will directly fund travel and site coordination to facilitate community consultation with people living with dementia, their caregivers, and health care providers.

“Through focus group discussion, we will evaluate the direct impact and awareness of dementia and barriers to care from the perspectives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples living across the urban to remote spectrum in New South Wales, South Australia and the Northern Territory.”

Dr Clarke said the findings would be presented to relevant community groups and healthcare organisations.

“In conjunction with other aspects of the project, results of this study will inform culturally safe clinical practice, education and policy development to advance dementia care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples living across urban, regional and remote settings,” Dr Clarke said.

Last year’s scholarship recipient, Ms Lorelle Holland, is helping design a culturally appropriate model of care to address complex health needs and the disproportionate incarceration rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.

Find out more about the Douglas and Lola Douglas Scholarship.

Analysing venom from museum collections—rather than chasing snakes across mountains or oceans—and what a warming climate might mean for bees’ ability to forage and pollinate: these are two of several science projects receiving additional funding support in 2023.

The J G Russell Award is a prestigious top-up grant made possible by the generosity of the late Miss J Russell, providing up to $7,000 to projects funded through the Australian Research Council’s Discovery Early Career Research Award (DECRA). It recognises the costs involved in experimental research and can be used towards equipment, maintenance and travel.

Five early career researchers have been awarded top-up funding in 2023.

Awardees and their projects

Dr Damien Esquerré, Australian National University

Dr Damien Esquerré’s DECRA was granted to use venom as a tool to understand fundamental processes in evolution.

He developed and tested a novel method for characterising venom profiles from preserved museum specimens. His initial focus is Australo-Papuan elapid snakes, but he said the method will be applicable to other animal groups (such as wasps, spiders, jellyfish, snails and frogs), and may provide useful data for drug discovery and anti-venom development.

“This allows [researchers] to discover the venom diversity of species found in remote areas like the Australian deserts, the mountains of New Guinea or the sea snakes in the middle of the Indian Ocean,” Dr Esquerré said.

“These species are very rarely encountered or present enormous logistical challenges to obtain alive, but are all available in museum collections thanks to decades of field collection.”

He will put the additional funding towards the cost of producing isotopically labelled peptides for mass spectrometry analysis, which is necessary for precise quantification of the toxins in a venom sample.

Dr Rachael Lappan, Monash University

Dr Rachael Lappan is seeking to understand the role of atmospheric microbes in global processes and their impact on human and environmental health.

She will put the award towards purchasing homogeniser equipment for DNA extraction, which will be housed in a dedicated clean laboratory, “enabling ultra-clean sample processing to vastly improve the quality of [my] genomics analysis,” Dr Lappan said.

“I appreciate such support offered to young researchers in this challenging and increasingly competitive career, as it not only aids our research but helps to develop us into leaders, so that we may support quality young scientists in the future.”

Dr Giorgio Poggesi, University of Western Australia

Interdisciplinary methods and international collaborations are vital for the success of Dr Giorgio Poggesi’s DECRA project, which he said capitalises on a large network spanning promising young researchers and world leaders in their fields.

In his study of partial differential equations, he’s drawing on a range of techniques and tools, including calculus of variations, shape optimisation, nonlinear analysis and geometric analysis.

Dr Poggesi said he will put the top-up funds towards flights and accommodation for two international scientific visits, strengthening existing relationships and forging new ones.

“I’m very proud to receive this award and grateful to Miss Russell and the Australian Academy of Science,” Dr Poggesi said.

Dr Kaitlin Cook, Australian National University

The experiments Dr Kaitlin Cook will perform under her DECRA project relate to novel measurements of the reaction dynamics of the first instant (one zeptosecond) of nuclear collision using the new ‘DEEToF detector array’, and measuring the full evolution of the nuclear system to re-separation.

Dr Cook said she will put the additional funding towards purchasing a new gas pressure controller and connecting components for the gas handling system of the detector.

“The performance of the gas ionisation counter depends directly on the properties of the gas inside it: the gas needs to be of constant pressure, flow rate and purity … A new gas pressure controller for the DEEToF detector array will significantly improve its performance and reliability and enable faster throughput experiments,” Dr Cook said.

Optimising the detector’s performance will also increase interest by international collaborators, she said.

Dr Scarlett Howard, Monash University

Among the multifaceted threats posed by climate change, research into the potential impact of higher temperatures on animal cognition remains “a considerable gap”, according to Dr Scarlett Howard.

But threats to bee cognition could have broader implications for food production, native plant reproduction, and the function of entire ecosystems—given bees’ reliance on learning and memory for reproduction, navigation and the specific behaviours that underpin their pollination behaviours.

Dr Howard will put the award towards a portable temperature-controlled apparatus, allowing her to conduct learning and memory experiments with native bees in remote field locations without needing to transport bees back to temperature-controlled laboratories.

“I'm looking forward to using the funds to further our understanding of native pollinators, their cognition, and how they are adapting to a changing world,” Dr Howard said.

“This work should enable us to build frameworks to best support native bees as they face the threats associated with environmental change."

Find out more about previous recipients of this award.

Awardees for the J G Russell Award are chosen from recipients of Australian Research Council DECRAs.​

There are many other awards and opportunities available through the Academy to support researchers at all stages of their career. Applications for the 2024 awards are now open, with several closing on 1 May.

GUIDELINES

The following guidelines and FAQs provide important information about eligibility, submission requirements, and assessment processes. Please review them carefully before submitting an application.

Previous awardees

Donors

This award has been made available through generous contributions from the following individuals:

Academy Circle
Dr Maxwell Frank Cooper Day AO FAA
Dr Jon Day PSM
Mr Doug Hooley PSM

Science Circle
The Griffin Family
Professor Frank Andrew Smith FAA

Academy Associates
Anonymous
Ms Virginia Berger
Mr Ian Hardy
Ms Kelly McMahon

Supporters
Mrs Eliza Allen
Mr Nicholas Benson
Marek Cmero
Dr Peter Coyne
Dr Alana Grech
Professor Alec Lazenby AO
Dr Laurence Mound
Dr Libby Robin
Ms Suzanna Rumon
Dr Denise Sherer